Sexuality: Anatomy Is Not Destiny

Sex, according to Freud, is a biological
drive clamoring for gratification from the moment of birth. In normal
human beings, its imperatives can be throttled by the rules of
morality, but they can never really be denied. In the current issue of
Transaction magazine, Sociologists William Simon, 38, and John Henry
Gagnon, 37, argue heretically that Freud was mistaken: the sex drive
is not strong but weak, and can be easily resisted. Moreover, sex forms
no integral part of man's inherited endowment; sexual behavior is
something he must learn.